Our ambition to deliver

Greater Manchester Housing Providers house one in every five people across the region, owning more than 250,000 safe, decent and affordable homes and have built more than 8,000 new homes in the last five years. Made up of 25 housing providers, we contribute £1.2bn in GVA to the Greater Manchester economy and support more than 28,000 full-time jobs across local communities.

However, we want to do more.

We know that we can be the ‘go to’ partners to tackle some of the key challenges facing the region and play a major role in delivering the 227,000 more homes needed across the city region over the next 20 years. We have the capacity, determination and infrastructure to build even more homes, create more jobs, tackle homelessness, connect health and housing and maximise the Greater Manchester pound.

Together we can achieve our city region’s ambitions for housing. Supporting the right conditions for collaboration is key, and we are committed to continuing the positive relationships we have developed. We believe that we can go further and this document sets out a framework for our future partnership based on trust and delivery.

We will tackle homelessness by intervening in the private rental sector to provide better quality and more suitable temporary accommodation.

Building Greater Manchester Homes

Our ambition to deliver:We will double our delivery of new homes for Greater Manchester.

Only we can provide the future homes that people can truly afford and that meet everyone’s needs. Freeing up land for affordable housing will mean we can commit to building 16,000 new affordable homes over the next five years, providing the right mix and quality of home that the city region needs and putting Greater Manchester at the forefront of tackling the country’s housing crisis. The key to unlocking this ambition is land. We want to work in partnership with all public sector agencies to explore new and equitable ways to allocate land to housing associations in Greater Manchester.

“Putting Greater Manchester at the forefront of tackling the country’s housing crisis”

Focus On: Building a Joint Venture for Greater Manchester

We were challenged to do more, to build more homes; a challenge we accepted with an idea to create a new joint venture organisation to do just that. Our aim is to work in partnership with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and to invest in the creation of a new Greater Manchester housing developer. This won’t replace our affordable housing delivery, it will add to it and expand our offer to the whole of the housing market. This means we can deliver exactly the variety, types and quality of new homes that the GMCA want and the GM boroughs need for their communities. Our idea is already being copied all over the country, but we aim to be the first joint venture of this type, doing what Greater Manchester does best: An exciting, innovative new entrant to the Greater Manchester housing market, with an ambition for the joint venture alone to build 500 homes a year.

Connecting health and housing

Our ambition to deliver: We will reduce the pressures on health and social care, investing in new modern homes and support packages for an ageing population.

Good quality housing and good health go hand-in-hand; Four in seven older people admitted to hospital via A&E could have been avoided if the right housing and support packages were in place. With a devolution package to enable better access to land or existing sites, we can provide homes to suit an ageing population from more extra care schemes to modern, purposebuilt retirement living. We share the GM strategy ambition of creating an age-friendly Greater Manchester. To deliver this we need to work in partnership to invest in homes for our future generations.

ForViva provide quality homes where older and vulnerable people can live independently for longer. Their extra care schemes are improving the health and wellbeing of individuals and their families, sustaining people in their communities for longer, preventing an over-reliance on Health and Social Care services and reducing hospital admissions. These schemes are changing the way that health and housing services are delivered to vulnerable people, offering flexible care with 24-hour support from social care and health teams. They are also integrated into the surrounding neighbourhood, building better relationships between residents, local care and wellbeing services and the wider community. Prior to moving to Amblecote Gardens in Salford, 62-year old Edward Grundy was living in a homeless hostel, suffering from decreasing mental health and substance misuse issues.

Creating jobs and training

Our ambition to deliver: We will invest in more than 1,000 new Greater Manchester apprentices as we increase our building programme.

Each year we help thousands of Greater Manchester residents back in to work, including providing around 10,000 weeks of apprenticeships. With appropriate access to land, our accelerated building programme will help us create more than 1,000 new apprentices in the regions; training and equipping Greater Manchester’s future builders. As the scale of our building programme increases we will work with our education colleagues to ensure we provide state-of-the-art training facilities for the builders of tomorrow’s homes.

“Our accelerated building programme, will help us create more than 1,000 new apprentices”

Focus On: Delivering opportunity and helping people realise their potential

Set up by Greater Manchester’s trailblazing Athena partnership, made up of GM housing providers, Motiv8 supports people aged over 25 across Greater Manchester who need support to get their lives back on track – people who are experiencing issues with health, alcohol, drugs, domestic violence, debt, homelessness or other challenges. They support people to access services and help them improve their confidence, self-esteem, health and wellbeing, finances and employability moving them closer to training and employment.

Over three years Motiv8 will support around 4,000 people to overcome multiple, complex needs and move them closer to training and work.

Investing in the Greater Manchester pound

Our ambition to deliver: We will commit to support the GM economy to maximise the impact of our work

Intrinsically rooted in Greater Manchester communities, three in every four pounds we spend remains in the region. We know that for every 25 affordable homes we build, we create £1m in GVA to the local economy. By doubling our affordable homes output, we will add even more social value to Greater Manchester through our commitment to local supply chains, local job creation and local partners. We will commit to re-doubling our efforts to invest in Greater Manchester rooted businesses. We continue to deliver at least £3 of value for every £1 spent.

“We continue to deliver at least £3 of value for every £1 spent in Greater Manchester”

Focus On: Creating opportunities and delivering value

In April 2015, Glendale Grounds Management Ltd successfully won a three year grounds maintenance contract for Bolton At Home. Social value was included in the tender, forming 10% of the available marks and was pivotal in the award decision. Glendale committed to deliver a range of social value outcomes including an enhanced financial contribution to Bolton at Home’s social value fund, two full time apprentices, six work placements per year, and 320 donated hours to deliver social value projects across Bolton.

Glendale has delivered above and beyond their original offer. Providing paid seasonal work for 33 Bolton at Home residents, eight of which have moved onto permanent contracts, whilst others have gained permanent work with other organisations.

In 2016, the successful partnership with Glendale was a key factor in being awarded a Responsible Business Award from Business in the Community (BITC) in the category of Employment for Excluded Groups.

Tackling homelessness and rough sleeping

Our ambition to deliver: We will tackle homelessness by intervening in the private rental sector to provide better quality and more suitable temporary accommodation.

GMHP have been working hard to find solutions to the region’s homelessness problems. However, we recognise we all need to do more. Ask anyone who has been involved in homeless services in Greater Manchester and they will tell you one thing: Current temporary accommodation provision is unsuitable, expensive and not fit for purpose. With access to existing sites and by intervening in the private rental sector, we can change this; repurposing empty buildings and providing a better quality temporary housing offer to support people in desperate housing need.

“Current temporary accommodation provision is simply not fit for purpose”

Focus On: Delivering support to start a new life off the streets

In response to increasing numbers of people experiencing homelessness, the Greater Manchester Homes Partnership has been formed – a partnership of GMHP members, charities and social investors.

The partnership works with entrenched rough sleepers over a three-year period by delivering an innovative Government-funded programme worth up to £1.8m that will help around 200 rough sleepers in Greater Manchester start a new life off the streets.

It provides rough sleepers with the intensive emotional and practical support they need to maintain successful tenancies, as well as helping with addiction and other health issues, supporting them to access appropriate existing health, training and employment services.

People who may have struggled with tenancies in the past will been given a second chance to have a home. Delivery partners Shelter, Great Places and The Brick ensure individuals receive the right type of emotional and practical support to help them stay in their new homes and create a new life that works for them.

A framework for developing our partnership

We are very proud of the role we play in the City Region. However, we want to go further and are committed to increasing our role and contribution in Greater Manchester. Our partnerships are based on trust and confidence in all partners to work together to deliver.

We present the following principles as the basis for developing future partnerships in the region:

• Co-design and co-commissioning• Flexibility to work beyond organisational boundaries• Integral part of GM public service reform and growth• Full engagement in spending and investment decisions• High quality and maximum value in delivering new housing and service provision• Maximise existing assets in balance with new provision• Sharing risk and reward